Thousands who gathered at Parade Ground in Dehradun on Saturday evening were enthralled as they saw the tall effigies of the demon king Ravana, his brother Kumbhakarna and son Meghnad — representing arrogance born of power and pelf-going into flames, marking the vijay of Dharma which Rama represents. Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat aside from a host of MlAs — Harbans Kapoor, Vinod Chamoli, Ganesh Joshi, Khajan Das and Umesh Sharma Kau was present during the Dussehra celebration on Parade Ground.
People started gathering at Parade Ground since 3 pm to witness the ceremonious torching of the demons in their effigies. The ground was chock- a- block with people who came from places far and near when the dahana started. like previous years, a mela came up on the ground in tune with the largeness of the gathering.
Those gathered in the sprawling ground erupted in delight as the effigies of the demon trio were lighted at 6.05 pm. Explosions were heard from within the effigies as they were loaded with explosives. The children looked the most excited. Police made elaborate security arrangements by putting barricades while additional police forces were deployed around the ground.
“I come here every year along with my parents. The thrill we feel while viewing the effigies being torched marking the triumph of good over evil remains the same,” said Anand Bisht, a school student.
The effigies were burnt too at Tapkeshwar, Chuna Bhatta, Patelnagar, Premnagar and some other places in the city in the presence of thousands.
Earlier in the day, religious processions were taken out to mark the occasion. It started from Gopinath temple, snaked through several intersections, including luniya Mohalla, Paltan Bazar, Rujpur Road, Quality Chowk and Rajpur Road, and finally ended at Parade Ground.